Learning

I alluded to this on the last post. Learning has changed for me. Education in residency is experiential. The cases I see, the patients I care for all make an impression on me. When I read, what sticks most in my mind are those things that change decision points for my patients. I learn about each disease as I come across it, rather than by perusing a textbook that lists them in order. But of course, residency comes with formal didactics. We have morning reports with presentations of instructive cases, noon conferences with lectures on common topics, grand rounds describing important advances in knowledge. When I was a medical student, I took copious notes at these didactics. But now, whether right or wrong, I find myself too exhausted to mentally attend to these sessions actively. I absorb what I can, but they have been relegated to an adjunct, a supplement to my learning. I find this change interesting, and necessary.